Presiding Officer to ask all Agents, Observers and Voters to move
away from the ballot box and for Agents and Observers to take their
seats;
at 7am the Presiding Officer announces that voting has begun;
Electors approach the Presiding Officer one by one. The Presiding
Officer must be satisfied:
as to the identity of the elector, by inspecting the elector’s
Voter Identification Card or, if the elector does not present a
card, by asking for the elector’s name and place of residence
and comparing the information provided against the
information contained in the Register of Electors;
that the elector is eligible to vote at that polling station, by
checking the Register of Electors; and
that the elector has not already voted, by inspecting the
smallest finger on the elector’s left hand for indelible ink.
the Presiding Officer asks the elector “Are you X of Y Village and is
this your photograph on the register?”;
the Presiding Officer marks the elector’s entry on the Register of
Electors by placing a tick in red ink in the box marked “has voted”;
the smallest finger on the elector’s left hand (or right hand, if the
elector does not have a left hand) is placed into a bottle of indelible
ink, up to the first joint (if the elector has no hands, then the
Presiding Officer does not have to apply ink);
the Presiding Officer stamps and marks the ballot paper, and issues
the ballot paper to the elector. (Unlike in 2014, there is no longer a
need to record the elector’s Voter Identification Number on the
counterfoil); and
the elector proceeds to a voting screen, marks and folds their ballot
paper, and places it in the ballot box.
While one Polling Assistant assists the Presiding Officer with the process of
identifying electors and the issuance of ballot papers, the other Polling
Assistant is positioned close to the Ballot Box, and ensures all electors place
their ballot into the ballot box and directs electors to the exit. It is expected
that the two Polling Assistants will switch tasks every 3 hours.
At 4:55pm, the Presiding Officer warns those present and outside the polling
station that voting will end at 5pm and only those in the queue at 5pm will be
able to vote. At precisely 5pm, the Presiding Officer indicates who is the last
person in the queue for voting. After the polling station is closed, the Presiding
Officer:
seals the flap of the ballot box with a security seal;
completes the Ballot Papers Account form, and accounts for all
Ordinary Ballot Papers, Unused Ordinary Ballot Papers, Spoilt
Ordinary Ballot Papers, and Tendered Ballot Papers; and
packages all materials ready for collection.